Lemon Lime Wine

This recipe is based off of HowToDoneRight's [Youtube channel] Skeeter Pee recipe. It's brilliant for drinking on stupidly hot summer days, and/or spashing into a gin'n'tonic for a bit of extra heat - that kind of thing. Recipe makes a 27L batch.

RECIPE

6.5 kg lemons[1]

2.5 kg limes

6 kg sugar

2x 750ml bottle of The Limery lime juice or similar[2] 

2 pkt Mangrove Jack's R56 yeast[3]

4 tsp wine tannin

4 tsp wine nutrient

4 tsp pectic enzyme

4 tsp acid blend

potassium sorbate [wine stabiliser]

Campden tablets

bentonite

spring water

32L fermenting bucket w. lid and airlock

Notes:

1. Or adjust amounts within 9kg total e.g. 8kg lemons & 1kg limes

2. Whatever you use, make sure it doesn't contain -ites and -ates, which suppress yeast activity, or any other additive shite – as organic as possible

3. Or substitute as desired – have also had success with Mangrove Jack's CR51

Photo 1: 9-ish kg of lemons and limes, cleaned

DAY 0 [31 AUG '25]

1. Dissolve sugar in 6L of water [tap water is fine] in a sanitised pot; then cool. [This is following the equal units sugar to water principle i.e. 1kg -> 1L]

2. Process fruit:

- clean lemons and limes in water and chop ends

- zest lemons and limes, avoiding as much pith as possible

- remove skin and trim as much of the pith as possible

- chop into 1/8ths lengthways and crossways, removing as much internal pith as reasonable

- preserve as much juice as possible

Photo 2: Zest covered, fruit partially processed – as you can see we really went to town on removing
the pith. This is to avoid odd flavours in the wine. Don't worry too much about the seeds.

3. Put fruit and zest in weighted double mesh bags in 32L fermenter

- add any saved juice from the lemon and limes

- add the bottled lime juice [750ml x2 => 1.5L]

4. Once sugar syrup cooled add into fermenter

- add spring water to 27L

Photo 3: Weighted bags in and filled to 25L.. +2 to go

5. Check PH [2.7] and gravity [1.090]

6. Stir in wine tannin, pectic enzyme, 8x Campden tabs crushed

7. Adjust PH up with calcium hydroxide [8 tsp -> 3.2, which is on the low side but not a bad starting point]

Put lid in place and install airlock. Leave for 24 hours.

DAY 1 +24 HOURS [1 SEP '25]

Hydrate and prove yeast, and wine nutrient

Add to must, stir

Photo 4: Hydrating and proving the yeast

PROCESS

DAY 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 [2 - 6 SEP '25]

Each of following five days open the fermenter and stir gently with a sanitised paddle. Don't be afraid to splash a little as oxygen into the must at this stage is a good thing for the yeast.

Photo 5: In the fermenting room, on DAY 7. Every few seconds the airlock releases
a little burst of CO₂ bubbles – see video clip below.

 

UPDATE

DAY 15 [15 SEP '25]

Fermentation is continuing – airlock activity has slowed a little.

UPDATE

DAY 30 [30 SEP '25]

Probably nearly done, airlock activity has slowed right down.

UPDATE

DAY 34 [4 OCT '25]

Airlock activity has stopped so took gravity reading [0.992] and removed the bags of organic material [lemons, limes, zest] from the must, so as to avoid any risk of drying out and infection. Check again in seven days to see if gravity has remained at the same reading, indicating fermentation complete. 

Photo 6: The organics [still bagged] moved into a separate bucket before disposal.

UPDATE

DAY 44 [14 OCT '25]

Took another gravity reading [0.992]. Racked into 2x 11.5L carboys. Added bentonite.

Photo 7: Preparing to rack to secondary containers – 2x 11.5L carboys.

Photo 8: Racked and treated with bentonite – next three days stir once p/day then leave to clear.

UPDATE

DAY 45, 46, 47 [15 - 17 OCT '25]

Stir to mix up the bentonite again.

... to be continued.